Category
CV
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CV, Jobs in Ireland, job hunting
11 Ways to Get Software Work Experience
The Catch-22 of trying to get your first job in a particular field is that everyone wants experience. It’s easy enough to understand why potential bosses would prefer someone with a background in the field, but you’ve got to start somewhere. Whether you’re looking for your first “real” job or making a career change mid stream, try the following to get some experience under your belt:
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CV, Web, job hunting
SEO for your CV- Letting Web Jobs Find You
Do you have an unusual skillset, a willingness to relocate, or a fairly senior job title? If finding you is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, potential employers may be using Google to find you. How can you make sure that your CV is easy to find through a search engine? Try the following:
- Have an HTML copy of your CV with a SEO-friendly file name, title and meta tags- a good choice would be along the lines of mydomain.com/webPHPdevelopercv.html or similar with a useful title along the same lines. Use the meta keywords to provide several alternate job titles (”cake developer, web developer, php developer, php programmer, web team lead, CV, resume”) or your most critical skills, and the meta description to sum up what you’re looking for, including location (”PHP Developer with M.Sc. in Computer Science for lead developer role in Dublin, Cork, or elsewhere in Ireland”).
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CV, Funny, Jobs in Ireland, job hunting
The CV Graveyard……..(or why your job applications go unanswered)
There’s a little place in the office of every hiring manager and HR person. It is a cold and dark place. An eerie place filled with shadows. A place swarming with the ghosts and spirits of missed “dream job” opportunities. A kind of job purgatory if you will. In effect it is actually a CV graveyard, needing only 1 excuse to lure its CV prey. In applying for a job you must avoid this place with all your might, and to aid you in your quest (or odyssey!) I have outlined a few of the lures and weapons the graveyard has in its arsenal. Beware…….
- The format trap - always save your CV as a generic and compatible file format. To be safe go with a .doc (note: avoid .docx as they are not always compatible with earlier versions of Word). The last thing you want is to submit your prized CV that you have slaved over making it perfect - only for it to be trapped by the graveyard because it is inaccessible.
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CV, Web, job hunting
A Web Friendly CV for Web Jobs in Ireland
I’ve always been astounded by the number of people who apply for web-related jobs whose CV gives no hint of knowledge of the Internet that goes beyond most people’s grandmas. Vague CVs that give no indication of the technologies being used on the project (Ruby on Rails? Java? Fortran? This information might be useful to potential employers). No way to get more information about past employers. And, most dammingly, no links to any past work.
You know who you are, people. And, whether you’re a project manager, designer, developer, director, or QA specialist, if the word “web” is anywhere in your job title or description, you should do the following to your CV:
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CV, Jobs in Ireland
Getting your First Job in Ireland, Software or Otherwise
Ireland has become an immigration magnet within the EU and beyond, but it can still be a non-trivial affair to find your first job here. To be sure you’ll be able to get suitable work in Dublin or elsewhere in Ireland, you’ll want to do the following:
Research, Research, Research:
- Know your work status- Visit www.entemp.ie to get more information about work permits in Ireland. Citizens of most EU countries are permitted to work in Ireland without a permit; those coming from other nations generally require employer sponsorship for a work permit. For experienced workers in software and other high demand fields,
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CV
QA/ Software testing CV (or resume) samples (or examples)- The good, the bad and the ugly
The good: This CV has a clean and simple format with enough details to create a clear picture of the person’s background, but not enough to make the recruitment specialists’ eyes glaze over. Click here to view.
The bad: This CV is much too generic and short. For QA positions, knowledge of specific technologies or industries can make or break, so being vague will keep you from being considered for some roles. Here’s an example.
The Ugly: Coming soon. It takes a surprisingly long time to invent bad CV’s.
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CV, Ireland, Jobs in Ireland, innovation, job hunting
Business Development aaaaargh….
So as you may or may not know, Jobyssey is a start-up web company designed for IT employers and IT talent. The general idea is to create a comprehensive search site whereby IT professionals can find opportunities suitable to their skill sets, and employers can find experienced IT professionals in Ireland. Sound like a good idea? We thought so.
It is a fact that Human Resources officials spend most of their time trying to identify potential hires for their respective companies in order to meet the business requirements. Realistically, most of their time should be spent with developing initiatives to improve the work life of the professionals currently employed by the company. The primary reason for the time spent on identifying new hires is that highly skilled, experienced people are hard to find. HR staff have plenty of resources available to them in order to identify potential staff ie. job boards, agencies, print ads etc. The trouble is most of the time these methods are ineffective and costly.
So the challenge now is to try and relay the advantages of Jobyssey to very busy hiring managers and Hr staff. After several frustrating phone calls, and a fair amount of hair being torn out, we have decided that cold calls is not the way to go. We are now creating a flash demo “presentation” of the site to distribute to potential employers so they can review t in their own time. What do you think of this idea? Do you have any innovative business development ideas of your own? Any suggestions greatly appreciated…..
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CV, Jobs in Ireland, job hunting
How to interview effectively
Ok, so your making progress. It took you a while to get your CV just right but your starting to get bites and you have just been called for an interview in a software house. PHP development is your thing, you are really excited about it and would love to secure this position. What to do now?
First off, in the immortal words on the cover of the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy - Don’t Panic. It is important to prepare for an interview, but it is also important to remeber that an interview is primarily to gauge your fit into an organisation. Your PHP skills have already been verified by your CV and sample of your code. So just be yourself, and that realistically should not be too difficult.
Alright, preparation time;
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CV, Ireland, job hunting
How to Tailor Your CV to the Job
This is an axiom that everyone constantly repeats, but that is really a pain to put into practice. “Great” you think, “it was enough of a pain to come up with one CV, I have no idea what else to say to make 5 different versions of it.” It is worth doing though- even if you’re sure you are right for the job, make it blindingly obvious so your CV makes it through the gauntlet and onto the right desk.
Some ways to get started after the jump:
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CV, Jobs in Ireland, job hunting
The 10 Commandments of CV writing in Ireland
03.19.08 | Permalink | 2 CommentsWith a diverse population working in IT/software/telecom jobs in Ireland, a whole variety of CV formats are floating around out there. It’s a cliche, but even with great experience a confusing or inadequate CV can get you screened out early in the process, or worse, it can give the (mistaken) impression that yo have something to hide. Sometimes it’s just crummy CV writing you can see the world over, sometimes it’s adhering to a format that isn’t really common in Ireland/ Europe. To have a CV that gets positive attention:
- Thou shalt put clear and accurate contact info at the top- The first thing on your CV should be a block with your full name (first name first, family name last), complete address, mobile number, home number, and personal email address. Don’t include your work phone number or email address. Check your email several times of day, and for the love of Pete set up the voicemail on your phone.
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